17th Schulich Startup Night Champions Crowned

July 4, 2022

< Back Image The 17th edition of Schulich Startup Night (SSN-17) recently attracted over 200 registrants and more sponsorship support than ever before. “This was a Schulich Startup Night that will be remembered for years to come! We had amazing pitches from our student and alumni companies that really blew our audience away. It was a tough decision for our judges as well,” shared Chris Carder, Executive Director of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. “We can’t wait to follow these emerging companies and support their continued growth!” Guillermo Valles (BBA’22) and Artin Mostajabi (BBA ’23), Founding Team of Wisesheets walked away as the Student Champions, while Sarah Jane Flynn (EMBA’19) and Steven DeCaire (EMBA ’19), Co-Founders of Tourlitix Inc were named the Alumni Champions. Other competitors included Haider Zaidi (BBA’24), Founder and Software Engineer of Webumé and Lakshay Kotnala (MBA’23), CEO of Fly In Ducks in the student category; and Tessa Steenstra (MBA’08), Partner, Strategy Health Pilot; and Sunny Shao (MBA’14), Founder and CEO of Acutely in the alumni category. The championship prizes include cash awards from the Audrey S. Hellyer Foundation, a photoshoot from StylePhotos, and coaching sessions from Prosh Marketing. Although he didn’t win the champion title in the student category, Haider Zaidi (BBA’24), Founder of Webume, took home a remarkable 4 sponsored awards: the People’s Choice Award sponsored by Indochino, the Top TECH Pitch Award sponsored by BEST Lab, the student Venture Award sponsored by Wildeboer Dellelce, and the student Future Star Award sponsored by YSpace. Other sponsored award winners included: Sarah Jane Flynn (EMBA’19), CEO & Co-Founder of Tourlitix Inc, who received the Acceler8 Award sponsored by Zeifmans, Sunny Shao (MBA’14), Founder & CEO of Acutely, who received the alumni Venture Award sponsored by Wildeboer Dellelce, and Tessa Steenstra (MBA’08), Partner, Strategy at Health Pilot, who received the alumni Future Star Awards sponsored by YSpace. In addition to the prize sponsors, SSN-17 was generously supported by TD Insurance and Micro Interface Design. The event can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyF12ZcYaqw. Following SSN-17, a fireside chat with John Ruffolo (BBA’88), renowned founder and managing partner at Maverix Private Equity, was hosted by Daniel Warner (MBA ’12), CEO and Co-Founder of KixCare. The Fireside Chat can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEAPgblW4Yc